Shadows of Duel academy
by Seos Kannenth
Summary: The sequel to legends of duel academy, Rory and Richard now enter their second year at duel academy. Little do they know that more adventures await them in their second year! Please Read & Review! Chapter 7 is now up!
1. Call of the Cog

Authors note: Hello again! I hope you enjoyed teh first installment, and hope you will enjoy this one too. Hopefully people who read the first one will be reading this, and hopefully wwe'll get new readers soon also. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Sitting in the stands amongst the teachers, looking down upon the action, Rory remembered a year ago when he had been down there, testing his new deck, and hoping that he would be able to join the illustrious academy.

There were hundreds of would-be students across from him, and he was trying to assess which would be interesting duellists at the academy. He had seen a variety of deck strategies now, but not many were managing to out-do the duelling proctors. Rory could sense the fear of the next wave of duellists, as they entered a duel that would shape their lives forever.

Rory had volunteered Professor Crowler's new option for second and third year Obelisk students, which was to help as proctors for the new students. He had already duelled a couple of students that day, using the proctor deck which he had been given.

He had obviously gone easier on them, enjoying the chance to relax. As such, his duels had already admitted three of the five duellists he had duelled, one of whom had played a level two monster deck that Rory found to be quite interesting.

He had one more opponent on that day, and made his way downwards towards the arena where he would be duelling the next student. As he wandered slowly down the stairs, once more examining his proctor deck, Rory heard a voice from behind him calling his name.

"Ror!"

He turned instantly, happy to see his friend, Richard, who had also volunteered to help, and had just left the arena below. The taller, brown-haired boy approached him, smiling.

"Those new duellists are really trying their hardest!"

"Yes, I noticed that too." Rory noted "I only have one more. How about you?"

"No. I just finished my final duel. It was a British girl who nearly cried when I attacked her. She played a rock deck, like I usually do. I had to go easy on her in the end."

"You let her win!" Rory gasped "Why on Earth?"

Richard blushed, but Rory was called to the arena below, so received no answer. He hopped down to the duelling level, where he slapped his deck in to his duel disk, and turned to face his opponent.

In front of him stood a boy only slightly shorter than Rory, with fairly short brown hair, who seemed eerily familiar, though Rory could not place him.

"What's your name?" Rory said, inconspicuously trying to remember him.

"I'm Michael Theseus." The boy said in a calm, peaceful voice. "What's yours?"

"Well, I'm Rory, and I'll be your proctor today! So, ready to duel?"

The two boys lifted their duel disks and a 4000 life point counter appeared by them both.

"You can duel first," Rory stated "So try to amaze me!"

"Ok." Muttered the boy, who was obviously nervous. "I set a card face down, and summon my Machine king Prototype in attack position."

Rory watched the two holograms appear; the blank card and the large red android, which held out its arms and glared at him through a cybernetic slit. (1600 /1500).

"Nice start." Rory nodded "I'll summon my mystic horseman in attack mode and play sword and shield. This card switches our monsters attacks with their defences."

The centaur appeared next to Rory, and it glowed as the spell card activated. (1550/1300).

"And now, because of my spell card, your monster only has 1500 attack points, so I'll attack your machine king!"

"You've forgotten my cards effect!" Michael yelled out

"No I haven't! Your monster has no way of stopping my attack!"

"Oh no, the attack will go on, but I activate my trap, DNA surgery!"

Rory gasped. He had not seen this strategy coming, and watched as his horseman became covered in steel armour.

"Now for my machine king prototype's effect. He gains 100 attack for every machine-type monster on the field, and since I just made your horseman a machine, my monster gains 100 more points!" (1600/1700)

Rory's horseman exploded, and his life fell to 3950. He grimaced, and looked back at his hand.

"I set one card face down, and end my turn." He said. "You're doing well, just keep it up!"

"Thanks." Michael said drawing a card, and attempting to smile. "I summon cyber phoenix in attack position, so my machine king gains 100 attack!" (1700/1600)

The large metallic bird appeared in front of Michael, and let out a metallic screech. (1200/1600).

"Now, both my monsters attack you directly!" Michael stuttered.

Rory was blasted by the large metal bird in front of him, before the machine king smashed him with its sword, lowering his life points to 1050.

"Now, to end my turn, I play future fusion." Michael murmured "I can send monsters in my deck to the graveyard to summon a fusion monster in two turns."

As Michael said this, he took a large number of cards from his deck and placed them in to his graveyard. Rory raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure that you're summoning a fusion monster, because you removed an awful lot of fusion material monsters from your deck."

"Oh no. I knew I'd do something wrong! I thought that I should have done that but now I can see how stupid it was. I end my turn."

Rory frowned. He didn't want to make the boy upset, but he was still confused about the card, as it had appeared that Michael had removed all of the monsters from his deck.

"Ok, I activate my call of the haunted! It allows me to bring back my mystic horseman in attack position! Then I'll tribute it to summon my millennium shield in attack mode."

A large brown metal shield appeared in front of Rory, and he smiled. (0/3000).

"And now I'll end my turn."

"Why would you end your turn? You only have an attack position monster with zero attack!" Michael yelled.

"You'll see." Rory grinned

"Fine. I summon my perfect machine king by tributing both my monsters! And since my DNA surgery is still on the field, he gains 500 more attack points!"

Both of Michael's monsters disappeared, and a massive android with white armour appeared. (3200/1500).

"Now, since you have no face-down cards, I can attack directly through your millennium shield and win the duel!"

"Wrong! I activate my Book of Moon!" Rory interrupted "It turns your monster in to face-down defence position, stopping your chance to attack!"

Michael frowned. "I end my turn."

"Ok!" Rory shouted "I activate nobleman of crossout! This card removes your monster from the game!"

Michael gasped as his monster vanished before his eyes, leaving him defenceless.

"Next up, I use monster reborn on your perfect machine king!" Rory screamed "It allows me to place it on my field. Now I use exchange! My spell card lets us look at each others hands and take a card."

Michael looked at Rory's hand, though there was nothing that could help him there, so he took a jar of greed. Rory then looked at his opponent's hand, and happily took the limiter removal from it.

"Now that I have this," Rory began "I activate it to double my Machine kings attack points until the turn's end. And since he already has 3200 points, he now has 6400!"

The large android which was now under Rory's control shone as it's circuits trembled with power, and it smashed a fist directly in to Michael, whose life points fell to 1600.

"Perfect." Rory smiled "Now I change my millennium shield in to defence, and end my turn, which destroys perfect machine king."

As Rory smirked, the android that he had stolen from the grave earlier that turn burst in to flames and returned to where he had taken it from.

Michael drew. He frowned looking from card to card, before turning away from his cards.

"I activate the effect of my future fusion." He stuttered "It allows me to fusion summon the monster I removed fusion material monsters for two turns ago. And the monster I chose was my chimeratech overdragon!"

"Your what?" Rory gasped, his face going pale and his voice going squeaky. He now understood the meaning of the numerous monsters that had been sent to the graveyard. He had thought it looked like all of the monsters were leaving Michael's deck, and it turned out he was right.

Michael had a machine deck, so by removing all of the machine monsters in his deck, as well as one of his cyber dragons, he would be able to summon an undefeatable monster.

"Now," Michael laughed, the stuttering gone from his now clear voice. "I guess you know my monster's effect. Since I used 20 fusion material monsters for its summoning, it has twenty heads, twenty attacks, and 16,000 attack points!"

The whole of the stadium floor began to shake as a single cyber dragon floated in to the air, though it soon connected with the hundreds of other machine monsters appearing in a flash of blinding light.

Amongst the creatures there were ancient gear monsters, cyber monsters and loads of other types of machines. As the searing light they joined in got too bright to look at, Rory covered his eyes, still trying to look upwards through his fingers at it, though his attempts were in vein.

When the light cleared, an enormous metal dragon with twenty large, fanged heads appeared, so large that it covered the entire of the building's floor, leaving little space in the other duelling arenas for the competitors to battle, though almost everyone in the building was already watching the duel anyway.

Richard sat open-mouthed, sitting next to Damien, who was profusely worried, and a girl with brown hair. All three of them were gazing at the dragon as if it could not possibly exist.

But the one who was most sure of the dragon's existence was the one who most wished it didn't exist. Rory was now directly underneath the creature's massive underbelly.

"You tricked me!" Rory yelled at his opponent, keeping his eyes firmly on the dragon.

"How? By pretending that I was insecure about my duelling skills? I think that you should know that by now, Rory! You should always be on your highest guard! I can't believe-" Michael roared, before frowning and shaking his head. "Chimeratech overdragon, destroy his monster!"

The monster evaporated, and Rory gulped, closing his eyes before the blast. But there was no second blast. He opened his eyes again, to see Michael standing beneath his dragon looking at him.

"I set a card and it's your turn, Proctor. My dragon only gains multiple attacks for every monster on your field."

Rory nodded, and drew from his deck. He was now certain that he could not win, but he could always hope for a draw.

"I activate ring of destruction!" he yelled. "It destroys your monster and we both lose life points equal to its attack!"

"You mean it's original attack?" Michael smiled. "It's original attack of zero?"

Rory gasped, unbelieving that he had been tricked by such an easy trap.

"I can still wipe out your life points now that your monster is gone! I summon great white in attack mode! Now he attacks your life points directly."

As Rory said the final words, he noticed the lone face-down card on his opponent's field, and realised his mistake, but it was too late.

"I activate my magical cylinders, and that means that you fail this duel!" Michael yelled, as a blast of energy shot directly at Rory, blasting him backwards against the wall.

He looked up to see the holograms gone, and the boy walking slowly towards him, a deep confidence surging through him.

"Good duel. I guess that means I can join the academy?"

Rory dropped his scowl and smiled. "Sure, maybe we can duel again sometime. Then I'll use my real deck and teach you how to duel!"

"Maybe." Smiled Michael, before turning and walking away from the arena.

Rory also turned, walking back up the stairs to where Richard was sitting with Damien. He approached them, looked at the girl sitting beside Richard with a puzzled look, and sat down beside Damien.

"Don't worry, Rory." Damien grinned "Weren't you saying just the other day that you needed a new opponent worthy of your power?"

Rory nodded once.

"Then isn't this the perfect opportunity? As soon as term begins, I'll start training you up for your duel against him. Good idea?"

Rory nodded again, and then smiled.

"That means that at the end of the year, it won't be this pathetic newcomer who duels you in the grad match, it'll be Richard or I!"

Damien grinned again, and this time it was he who nodded.

"Well," Damien stated in a hushed voice "that is if Richard doesn't have something better to do."

He pointed over his shoulder with his head, at Richard, who was sitting with the brunette girl, who Richard guessed must have been the one from the duel he had been told about.

Rory laughed silently, not wanting to get on his friends bad side, and turned back to Damien.

"As soon as term starts, back to practice. I promise you, Michael is going down!"


	2. Sharks & Squids

Authors Note: At the end of this chapter, you'll notice the new cards section, which is where cards I have made for these dues will be displayed. This chapter just has the two, but more will appear in later chapters. Please review this fic, I need lots of reviews!

Chapter 2

The sun was brightly shining overhead as Rory stood in the grounds of Duel academy, in the finishing stages of a duel. The tall boy in front of him was cheap practice before he got a chance to duel Richard again, and ultimately, it was practice for his duel against Michael.

A large amount of the school, especially those who had seen Rory's impressive duel against Dreadroute the year before, had been discussing this, and marvelling at the chimeratech overdragon, only to stop talking when Rory arrived. Even Zane Truesdale, the previous year's top duellist, who had recently joined the pro league, had shown interest when his younger brother had told him.

Rory placed a card on the field barely thinking, finishing the rest of his opponent's life points. There weren't many good opponents for him in his year anymore, which is why he had taken to duelling older students, and why he was particularly excited about Michael.

Though he claimed he only lost from his separation from his deck, he secretly knew that Michael's strategy would have beaten his deck as well. But this time, his trick wouldn't work.

Numerous people had noticed this cheap trick, including Professor Crowler. He claimed that it was the only reason Rory had lost, and thus, placed Michael in Ra as a punishment.

As Rory walked away from his opponent, mulling this all over in his head, he saw Richard jogging towards the main school building. He smiled and walked over to him.

"Richard. I haven't seen you all day. Are you up for a duel?"

"What? No thanks Rory. I need to do something important."

Richard proceeded to jog on, but Rory stepped in to his path, one eyebrow raised in suspicion.

"What exactly do you need to do?"

"I promised someone I would duel them."

"Fine." Rory muttered, though he was not quite convinced. His friend was generally easy-going, and refused to live by schedules, so this behaviour was quite odd.

"As I remember it, you owe me a duel or two." Came a voice from a tree above Rory as Richard walked away. Rory looked up to see a tall boy with short brown hair, a blue blazer and a light blue duel disk strapped to his arm. Damien.

"Ah, Damien. I see you got the new duel disk after all." Rory smiled, as his other friend dropped from the tree to stand beside him.

"Yep. My parents sent it to me this morning."

"What's up with your parents?" Rory asked. "I mean, I know Richard is an orphan, but I've never been told about yours."

"Oh." Damien said, his eyes staring blankly. "When I was a baby, my mother died, so my dad sent me to live with a business associate of his. Those two who I live with now are my family, but my tuition and everything is paid by my real dad. He visits every now and then, and gives me rare cards. He gave me Daedalus, and taught me to play duel monsters. Then a couple of years ago, he disappeared. I haven't seen him since. That's why I came to this school. So that I can become the world's greatest duellist in his honour. I must become the king of games!"

Five minutes later, Damien and Rory clambered in to the large vault Damien had constructed in the attachment to his room, which had formerly housed the portal for Dark Dreadroute. Now, it had been redecorated, with large stone pillars circling a large spherical hole in the floor, going down about three feet, and with rounded edges.

Rory looked at the dip questioningly, and Damien smiled, turning to him to explain. "This is my newly created Duel monsters coliseum. Here, the monsters summoned in a duel can fight amongst a mass of scenery, uploaded by field spell cards. So, are you ready to try it out?"

Rory nodded, standing on a large platform above the coliseum. Damien stepped on to the opposite platform, and placed a card quickly in to the pillar beside him.

Damien suddenly vanished, to be replaced by Michael, though Rory could not see how he could possibly be here. He gasped, his eyes widening.

"Sorry." Michael said, though in Damien's voice. "I have made a simulation of Michael for this little duel. He shall be the one fighting, but he fights with my new deck."

Understanding, Rory grinned, as a duel disk shot between the two pillars beside him, and he placed his deck in to the slot.

"I'll go first." Damien smiled "I start by summoning my sea serpent warrior of darkness in attack position. Then I place a card facedown, and end my turn."

In front of Damien, a large blue skinned warrior clutching a massive spiked rod appeared, and stuck its staff in to the pillar closest to Damien, holding it to keep itself elevated. (1800/1500)

"Fine." Rory laughed. "I summon my Zure, knight of Dark World in attack position. Next, I equip him with the sword of dark destruction."

A tall, armoured warrior appeared next to Rory, and swung its sword through mid air, landing on the ground. (1800/1500). Then, in its free hand, a second sword appeared, with a large demonic head upon the hilt. (2200/1300).

"Now, my knight attacks your sea serpent!" Rory yelled, as his soldier leapt forward, clashing blades with Damien's sea serpent, until eventually, the water dweller's rod snapped in half, and he exploded, sending Damien's life points down to 3600, as Rory set a card face down.

"All good." Damien smirked. "I summon placid squid in attack position."

As Damien grinned, placing his new card in attack position, a small blue squid appeared in front of him, and squealed at the large knight in front of him. (500/500)

"Next up, I activate my torrential tribute! When a monster is summoned, every card is destroyed!" Damien laughed, as a whirlpool stirred beneath the squid, sucking in both monsters and destroyed them. "And thanks to my squid's effect, I can special summon a water monster from my hand. So I summon my Bitelon!"

A massive purple serpent appeared, wrapping itself around Damien. It had enormous teeth, with one large red staring eye. Then Rory noticed that it was not a serpent at all, and that the part that he believed to be the whole body was just the neck, revealing a big, armoured body with four legs and a tail. (2400/1000).

"Now, I play my 'a legendary ocean' card, set one card, and send my monster to attack!"

The creature, pulled away from Damien, dropping in to the pool of water that had gathered below the moment Damien had placed his field card in to the slot in the pillar. Great ruins then burst forth, smashing high up to the ceiling. (2600/1200).

Then, the monster stretched its neck up to Rory, biting in to him, and sending him backwards, nearly falling over. He stumbled, but pulled himself back to his feet quickly, as his life points fell to 1400.

He scowled, and drew a card. He instantly smiled at his hand, and began his strategy. "I activate my graceful charity! It allows me to draw three cards, and discard two, namely my shining abyss and my curse of dragon!"

Rory picked up three cards, and discarded the two he had mentioned, before lifting a card in to the air. "Now I activate my monster reborn to bring back my curse of dragon in attack mode!"

In front of Rory appeared the large bone dragon, which snarled at Damien's Bitelon. (2000/1500)

"If you're quite done, I'll point out that your monster is still far too weak to win!" Damien smirked. "You'll never beat Michael like this!"

"That's because my strategy is not yet complete! I tribute the shining abyss and Zure in my graveyard to summon my chaos emperor dragon – envoy of the end!"

Next to Rory's first dragon, his larger, signature monster appeared, it's dark blue scales reflecting the ominous glow from the water. (3000/2500)

"Now, I activate my face-down card, level conversion lab. It lets me select a monster in my hand, say my invader of darkness, and lower its level."

Rory tossed out the dice, which rolled beneath the water, before stopping just on a four, but before it could finish moving, the Bitelon smashed in to it, knocking it on to a five.

Rory grinned. "That doesn't matter. I tribute my curse of dragon to summon him anyway!"

The large, golden armoured soldier appeared next to Rory and the chaos emperor dragon, lifting its sword angrily. (2900/2500)

Damien stared in awe at Rory's two best monsters, both ready to tear apart his last monster and end his life points.

"I activate a face-down card!" he mumbled. "My gravity bind! It forces all monsters of four or more stars to stay where they are and not attack!"

Rory smiled and ended his turn. "That trap won't stop me forever. Soon my monsters shall break through!"

"I play monster reborn" Damien gulped "Summoning my placid squid back in attack position. Then I tribute it to use my share the pain card, so you have to also destroy a monster!"

Rory sighed, as the squid reappeared for a moment, before evaporating, and destroying Rory's invader with it. Suddenly, a small wave floated in towards where the squid had been, a giant shadow floating in it.

"Now, with my monster's effect," Damien began "I can special summon my Levia Dragon Daedalus straight to the field. Then I tribute him for my Ocean Dragon Lord – Neo Daedalus."

As the sea serpent surfaced, it had already begun to glow and transform in to its more powerful self.

"Now I use cost down on this card in my hand, making it level seven, but since my ocean is also on the field, it becomes level 6!"

"Wait a minute!" Rory gasped. "That means it was a nine star monster to start with! And you're going to summon it with one tribute?"

"Right you are!" Laughed Damien, as the arena trembled, and the bitelon vanished in to nothingness. "Now say hello to my very own, Oceanic Carcharadon!"

The enormous pillars next to Damien smashed simultaneously as the arena shook, and an enormous shadow appeared under his platform, at least five times the size of Daedalus. Suddenly, the water burst apart to reveal an enormous fin, and the top of a giant shark's body. Its body was at minimum thirty feet long, and as the shark rose higher and higher, Rory caught a glimpse of hundreds of thousands of teeth, all glinting with murky red blood. (3300/1800)

(3500/2000)

"Fortunately for you, my new warm-blooded shark needs a turn to charge his power, and thus none of my monsters can attack this turn. But next turn, you shall be wiped from existence. You see, my monster can negate the effect of trap cards that target him and destroy them. So on my next turn, I will destroy my own gravity bind. And so that you don't strike first with your monster's effect, I activate ookazi"

Rory was still gaping in awe and horror at the mighty monster before him, as the fireballs flew forwards and crashed in to him, knocking his life points to 900.

Rory was now beginning to lose hope, as the bloodthirsty beast in front of him seemed impossible to destroy. With immunity to traps, and 3500 attack points, Rory was stumped for a plan.

"I play fissure, to destroy your Daedalus!" Rory grinned, pleased to destroy one of the giant creatures in front of him. "Then I set one monster in defence and end my turn."

"Foolish error, Rory!" Damien smiled "And you shall regret it. By leaving your emperor in attack position, you have triggered my carcharadon's effect. When he attacks, destroys a monster and inflicts battle damage to your life points, he can attack any other monster on your field that I choose. So, go forth my ultimate destroyer shark!"

The water crashed apart in waves as the shark proceeded forwards to Rory's dragon, hovering just above the surface of the water. As the shark proceeded, Damien's trap shone, but shattered within seconds.

The beast lumbered forwards, opening its jaw and leaping from the water, swallowing the dragon whole and smashing in to Rory with its bulk as it turned, knocking him to 400 life, and creating a pool of blood under the shark in the water.

After bobbing for a moment in the water, the shark got the scent of the blood, and spun towards the face-down card. It smashed in to it, and even as its image appeared, a small witch, the shark chopped it up, and returned to Damien's field, smashing tidal waves across the lengths of the arena.

Rory was now certain that he would fall, but continued anyway. He looked at the life point counters, and grimaced as he saw Damien's still at 3600 and his at only 400.

"Well, what you missed is that you destroyed my witch of the black forest." He told Damien coldly. "That means that I can add a monster to my hand with low defence points."

Rory rummaged through his deck, and drew a monster, smiling. "Now I use the monster I added, my reflect bounder! And I summon it in attack position!"

A large, red, mirror-covered monster appeared, holding its arms apart menacingly. (1700/1000)

"Haven't you learnt anything? Now my Carcharadon will kill you for your foolishness!"

"We'll see. I set a card and end my turn."

"You are a fool, Rory. My Carcharadon is unaffected by traps! Now attack him through that Mirror monster and end the duel!"

The great shark launched itself again, Ramming in to the red monster on Rory's field, and sending massive shockwaves across both sides of the arena.

"What?" cried Damien, as his platform shook tremendously.

"The effect of my reflect bounder bounces your monster's attack back at you when you attack my monster. And so that I lose no more life points, I activate my trap, Waboku. And guess what? Since it targets me, and not your shark, I get to keep it, and lose no life points!"

Damien roared in anger as his life points exploded downwards and hit 100. "Fine, but since your monster battled, it's destroyed by its own effect, and since I still have points, you are about to lose. So I set a card, and end it there."

"Wrong again Damien," Rory laughed as he drew a card "I activate monster reincarnation to put my chaos emperor Dragon back in to my hand, and remove from play my invader of darkness and my reflect bounder to summon him."

As a card entered Rory's grave, and the dragon reappeared, Rory smirked evilly. "Now I play my dian keto the cure master, giving me 1000 extra life points, and a chance to use his effect and blow this duel apart!"

Damien frowned, but smiled, and flipped his face-down card "I activate my torrential tribute trap card. When you summon your dragon, all monsters on the field are destroyed, and one of my sharks effects means that if one is destroyed, and I have another in my hand, I can special summon it. So you lose, Rory!"

"Not quite. Caught in your own paradox, Damien!" Rory smiled

Damien looked down at his field, and saw his torrential tribute card shatter immediately. "What? But how?"

"Your Carcharadon negates the effect of all trap cards that target him and destroy them. Thus, when your card aims to destroy all monsters, you target him too. So that's game set Damien!"

Damien gasped, amazed by the genius strategy conjured right under his nose. He barely even noticed as the shark, the water and Rory's dragon exploded, and a massive fireball smashed in to him, launching him from his platform to the ground, and the holograms disappeared, along with the ones making the pillars appear destroyed.

"Brilliant work, Rory!" Damien smiled, standing up as the black-haired boy approached. "I'd say you're nearly ready to take on Michael now!"

"Yes, it would appear so." Rory grinned "Nice work yourself, and I think that your well on your way to becoming king of games in your dad's honour. When you got that shark going, I thought I was finished!"

The two boys laughed, and across the island, two other boys were just about to begin their duel.

"So, Richard, you are Rory's friend. Well, then it would appear that you are my next opponent, and my cards will be set upon you. Prepare for your demise."

"Oh really." Richard smiled. "I think that you're the one going down, Michael!"

**NEW MONSTERS FROM THIS DUEL**

**PLACID SQUID**

ATK/500 DEF/500

LEVEL 2

WATER

AQUA / EFFECT

When this card is destroyed outside battle, you can special summon any water monster from your hand. If this card is destroyed in battle, draw 1 card.

**OCEANIC CARCHARADON**

ATK/3300 DEF/1800

LEVEL 9

WATER

FISH / EFFECT

All of the tributes for this card must be WATER type. When this card is summoned, none of your monsters can attack on the same turn. Also, you may negate the effects of any trap cards that target this monster and destroy them. When this card inflicts battle damage to your opponent, except when attacking directly, he can attack another monster on your opponent's field. If this card is destroyed as a result of battle, you can special summon another Oceanic Carcharadon from your hand. This card cannot be special summoned, except by the effect of Oceanic Carcharadon.


	3. The Rocky Road

Chapter 3

The boy sat in his room, smiling at his cards, which were spread out across the floor of his dormitory. Even though the foolish teacher had placed him in the second highest dorm, he was unfazed, and knew all he would have to do would be to show how incredibly powerful his cards were.

The relationship that he shared with them was immense, and no-one could defeat them. Those cards had crossed galaxies with him, changing with the times from stone to card. But the spirits remained the same. The spirits with whom he had struck out creatures of unimaginable power. These were the creatures that had brought both the first and second fall of the demon Dreadroute, even though the second fall was from behind the scenes.

Michael smiled, pleased that he had not been remembered by Rory from the previous year, when he had infused his Monster with the boy to bring about Dreadroute's downfall.

He had decided. He would duel every student in Obelisk and win, and by doing so, cause the shadows to arrive. He could not allow any more time to pass. He bowed his head respectfully to his cards, and scooped them up in to a pile, and proceeded from his door, to stand in the grounds.

The sun was shining brightly on the first day of the academy's year, and Michael did not have to wait long before his plan succeeded, and a gang of three Obelisks approached him, all frowning angrily.

"Hey!" One of them yelled "You're that kid who cheated Rory to get in to the school!"

"Yeah!" Another piped "He's cool! He killed a demon last year and saved the entire school! Him and Richard Capricorn, that is! And where were you?"

"Off in diapers, probably!" the third laughed. The others joined in, until they were interrupted by a smile creeping up Michael's mouth.

"How about a duel then?" He smirked. "All three of you. And since I already used my trick once, it can't fool you!"

"Fine then!" All three of the Obelisk boys yelled.

Ten minutes later, all three of the boys were grinning, their fields glowing with power. The first one, with 2400 life points, was standing behind his Red-eyes black dragon, its jet black skin shining in the sun as it prepared for its next attack. (2400/2000)

The next boy was laughing at Michael's pathetic field, a dimly lit grassy area with two face-down cards. He had 2700 life points and was guarded by a Dark Magician Girl, its attack raised highly by the monsters already destroyed and in his grave. (2600/1700).

The third of the three boys, their leader, had just tributed two monsters at that moment, and after ending his turn had crowned his field with Buster blader, whose purple armour radiated its power, and whose sword longed to cut down Michael. (2600/2300). The gang's leader was nearly invincible, with still 3500 life points.

Michael had held out against the monsters relatively well so far, with 2100 life points left, though he had not summoned any major creatures. Numerous people had gathered to watch, eager to see Michael fall.

The boy was laughing in his head, though on the outside looked worried. He could not believe that the three opponents actually were falling for the same trick as Rory. He lifted his head, showing the confidence again, and the three boys simultaneously realised that they had been tricked. But it was too late; Michael was already lifting his card.

"I activate my return from the different dimension card! It means that by paying half my life points, and lowering to 1050, I can bring back any five cards removed from play. So I bring back my Mechanical chaser, Robotic knight, Inpachi, Machine king prototype, and my Perfect machine king!"

As the five androids appeared, the boys shrunk beneath them. (1850/800), (1600/1800), (1600/1900), (2000/1900), (6200/1500) "How did they get removed from play? That machine king wasn't even in your graveyard!"

"Oh he was. First, I discarded him with graceful charity, then I removed them with soul release. I've been waiting for this since the very beginning! I activate my Diffusion wave motion, and chain the easy road! This combo means that I do not need a level seven spellcaster to activate my wave motion, and I can allow my Perfect machine king each attack instead. All I have to do is pay the 1000 life point price."

As Michael shot to 50 points, the leader of the gang gasped, hoping that one of his underlings would have fallen first, he now knew that they would all fall this turn.

"Now then, perfect machine King, attack and destroy buster blader!" Michael roared, as the machine shot out a beam of energy. "And I chain DNA surgery, so all monsters become machines, and my monster has enough power to fry you!"

The beam continued, and blew the buster blader apart, burning it's controller to the ground with the remaining damage, and sending him to zero points.

"Now, attack Dark magician girl and Red eyes black dragon!" Michael screamed, as the monster repeated the attack pattern exactly the same twice more, leaving the three Obelisks lying helplessly on the ground.

Michael turned to the crowd, and smiled. "Who's next?"

Slowly but surely, Michael cut down the horde of Obelisk Blue students, so that few were left. As the sun rose right overhead, he grinned, drawing the last card he would need in this duel.

"I summon cyber dragon in attack position!" he yelled, as a large silver plated dragon appeared next to him. "Now I use fissure and megamorph! This combo destroys your vorse raider and raises my dragon to 4200 points, allowing me to win the duel!"

The previous duel had lasted only a single turn, and Michael was beginning to get disappointed. None of the Obelisks were a match for him. Suddenly, he heard the slightest twitch behind him, and spun on the spot, turning just in time to see a boy with long hair, wearing an Obelisk blue uniform.

"I know what you're thinking." The boy smirked. "You think that none of the Obelisks are worthy of you. Well, I'm no ordinary Obelisk."

"You want a duel, weakling? I'll bring you down in one second!"

"No-one can defeat Richard Capricorn!"

"So, Richard, you are Rory's friend. Well, then it would appear that you are my next opponent, and my cards will be set upon you. Prepare for your demise."

"Oh really." Richard smiled. "I think that you're the one going down, Michael!"

The boys stepped to opposite sides of the grassy area upon which they stood, drawing in the biggest crowd yet, as this match would be nearly as spectacular as if Rory had challenged Michael himself.

"So, where is your little friend, Rory?" Michael teased "Is he off sulking? Or has he sent you to do his dirty work for him?"

"I come on my own agenda." Richard smirked, drawing five cards, plus one additional one. "And I'll start showing you that with this, my battle ox card!"

A large brown ox appeared in front of Richard, swinging an axe to and fro in front of it. (1700/1000)

"Then I set one card face down and end my turn." Richard smiled

"Fine, I counter-summon with Mechanical chaser. Now attack my monster!"

The large green, tool wielding android appeared, swinging swords and sceptres in every direction. (1850/800). Suddenly, it flew forwards at Richard's monster, but Richard flipped his card.

"I activate my sakuretsu armour. It destroys your monster, and sends it straight to the graveyard."

The android burst in to flames, and burnt to dust, leaving Michael open to attack on the next turn.

"Fine then. I end my turn by playing my future fusion card." Michael muttered, as the card that had successfully destroyed Rory's proctor deck appeared next to Michael.

"My turn." Richard grinned, admiring his hand. "I special summon Gilasaurus from my hand, which allows you to bring back your mechanical chaser as well."

A small brown dinosaur leapt on to Richard's field, and suddenly, Michael's mechanical chaser rose from its ashes on his field.

"Next, I set one monster in defence mode, and end my turn."

"Good." Michael nodded, noting all three of Richard's monsters were weaker than his. "I summon heavy mech support platform, and equip it to my mechanical chaser."

A small metal clamp appeared, and fastened itself to Michael's monster. (2350/1300).

"Now, my machine, attack his battle ox!" Michael roared, as his creature flew forwards, finally able to chop down the beast.

Richard held up his arm, taking the hit full on. He barely flinched as his life points fell to 3350.

"My turn." He smirked, looking at his new card. "And I start with Pot of greed. I draw two cards, and set both face-down. Now I tribute both my monsters to summon Ryu Ran. Then I use earthquake, to turn both monsters in to defence position, but I chain guard penalty, letting me draw 1 card."

Next to Richard appeared an enormous egg, with wings and a pair of eyes sticking out. It pulled its wings in front of it, and growled sinisterly. (2200/2600).

"Now, I set 2 cards and end my turn." Richard smiled, though he was aware that this turn, a monster would be summoned by future fusion, and might take him out.

"Good." Michael laughed. "Now, my Cyber twin dragon is fusion summoned to the field, and I tribute my other two monsters for my perfect machine king."

Next to Michael appeared an enormous two-headed silver dragon with one body and tail, and a laser for one head, as well as his perfect machine king. (2800/2100), (3200/1500).

"And my cyber twin dragon's effect allows it to attack twice! That means its game set!" Michael chuckled. "Now, attack his Ryu Ran!"

The dragon shot out a giant energy blast from one of its heads, which crashed directly towards Richard, and exploded outwards, creating a giant cloud of smoke. However, when the smoke cleared, Richard and his monster were both still standing, and both of Richard's trap cards had flipped face-up.

"How did you survive that attack with full life points?" Michael gasped

"I used my trap cards. First, my astral barrier makes all of your attacks direct attacks instead. Next, my spirit barrier means that all direct damage is reduced to zero if I still have a monster on my field. So if you attack, the damage is routed back to me, and is negated because my monster is still on the field, and now un-targettable!"

A massive round of applause sounded from the crowd, as Michael stood stuttering, his bond with his cards beaten by another duellist's combo.

"You shall be destroyed!" Michael roared, his face full of anger. "I shall wipe you from this duel!"

Richard laughed silently, and pointed a finger at Michael "I'm sorry, but your days of trickery are over! I'm about to expose you as the terrible duellist that you are. And this is just the first of my combinations with which I'll seal your deck."

More cheers filled the crowd, and Richard remembered his duel with Rory the year before. It was the same cheers that he had got from his combo then, and he received the same appreciation.

"To start my next turn, I summon my alien infiltrator in attack position, and I will attack through the right hand side of your duel disk!"

The small grey alien appeared, brandishing its guns and snarling at the two large machines in front of it. (800/800). After a moment of standing still, it leapt forwards, flying through the unguarded flank, and blasting Michael with a shot from its guns, knocking him down to 3200 points.

Richard waved for Michael to proceed, but frowned when he saw the smile creeping onto his opponent's face.

"I have just realised the flaw of your combo!" he laughed "Your barriers can only last if you have monsters on the field, so when I destroy your monsters, you shall lose the duel!"

The crowd gasped, but Richard just chuckled, barely even noticing.

"I activate my dark hole spell card!" Michael sniggered, holding the card in to the sky. "It destroys every monster on the field!"

Richard's eyes widened as a giant black vortex filled the field, and all of the monsters were sucked inside. As he trembled in the wake of the blast, Michael let out a thunderous cry of laughter.

"Now I summon my machine king prototype in attack mode!" Michael grinned, as his large, red android stepped in to the aftermath of the blast, brandishing its tools. (1600/1500). "Now he attacks you directly, and I set a card face-down."

The robot launched itself at Richard, smashing it's fists in to him and knocking him backwards. When he stood up again, his life points had hit 1750.

"I remove from play the lost guardian in my graveyard to summon megarock dragon, and then I tribute him to summon infernal incinerator by chaining the easy road!"

First, Richard's small stumpy rock warrior that had been tributed for Ryu ran earlier appeared, though it faded, and was replaced by the great, earthy monster that Richard used often. Finally, the dragon burst in to flames, from which the incredible beast rose.

Its red and black skin shone violently in the sun, and the fire shooting from its nostrils lit the ground. (3000/1800).

"Now, my monster will strike down your king!" Richard roared, to further applause.

The creature pulled back on to its rear legs, and shot out a wreath of flame, which engulfed the helpless machine king, and covered Michael in a dark torrent, sending his life points right down to 1800.

Michael smiled through the blaze, as he lifted his face down card. "I activate my damage condenser, and chain my own copy of an easy road, meaning that I can summon any monster from my deck that I choose! And I call forth the Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon!"

Richard was shocked by the sudden twist in events, and gaped as a mighty mechanical dragon rose before him, with thousands of cogs, gears and bolts bursting from it. It's eye shot a mad red through the large mechanical head that had been moulded to the black motorized exoskeleton, from which two long, spined wings and a caterpillar track burst. (3000/2000).

"I end my turn." He stuttered

"Good." Michael smiled. "And since he was summoned via the easy road, he gets all the effects he would have had if he had been tribute summoned by tributing each of the three gadgets. So I equip him with ancient gear tank!"

A large grey cannon with wheels attached to the caterpillar tracks at the front of the gadget dragon. The gun turret rocketed round in a circle, whilst the enormous machine above it let out a rattling roar, which sounded like the acceleration of a motorbikes engine amplified through a mega speaker. (3600/2000).

"Next, my monster will attack and destroy your incinerator!" Michael laughed, as his beast shot forwards, the tank's guns firing at maximum capacity, and its jaw letting forth a giant flaming blast.

Richard held his arm over his face, trying to block the oncoming attack. His combo would no longer protect him, even though he had a monster on the field, because one of the dragon's effects prevented the use of spells or traps during the battle phase. He was on his own this time.

The giant demonic beast shattered, and the mechanised dragon's beam burst through, singing Richard. His life points dropped to 1150. Suddenly, the Dragon shot out another round from it's gun turrets, which caused Richard to collapse to the floor.

"You see, since my Dragon was summoned with an easy road, it is as if he was summoned by all three of the gadget brothers. That means that when he destroys one of your monsters as a result of battle, he deals 600 damage direct to your life points, and when he deals battle damage to your life points, he deals 400 more."

Richard stepped back on to his feet, grimacing at the 150 life point counter.

"Ok. I destroy both of my barrier trap cards to special summon anteatereating ant!" Richard stated.

A giant black ant appeared beside him as his two barriers vanished, and snapped it's teeth viciously.

"Next, I use my dian keto the cure master, and then with my ant's effect, destroy your tank!" he continued

Michael raised an eyebrow, watching Richard's life points rise to 1150 again, then fall to 550, and the tank part of his dragon explode. (3000/2000).

"Finally, I activate my megamorph spell card on my ant, giving it 2000 extra attack points!"

The ant glowed, expanding in size until it was larger than Michael's dragon, and the crowd cheered so loudly that Richard and Michael could barely hear.

"Now, my monster attack!" Richard yelled, looking around the crowd and smiling, until his eyes settled on Michael's smile, and he froze, just in time to see his opponent lift a spell card from his hand and slap it down on the field.

"I activate Limiter removal!" Michael laughed, though Richard only saw the movement of his lips as his heart stopped beating, and he realised his defeat.

The crowd seemed unaware, still cheering, until the dragon let out another burst of flame, and Richard's entire field exploded in fire.

"Just like all the others, you have failed." Michael murmured, turning from the duel, and walking away, his dragon fading in to his deck and leaving with him.

Richard remained motionless on the floor for minutes afterwards, on his knees as he let his mouth hang open in disbelief. The viewers around him slowly began to filter away, quietly talking to each other, and pointing from behind their hands at Richard, who knelt motionlessly.

After everyone else had left, the two boys walked up to him, and he rose, talking to them but not turning around.

"Rory, I hope that you're ready." He snapped, trembling with anger "Because I want you to take that Punk down before the end of the day!"

"Everything's set." Damien smirked "We've arranged for tomorrow's lectures to be very exciting."

"By mid-day tomorrow," Rory laughed "Michael shall no longer be victorious."

**NEW CARDS FROM THESE DUELS**

**THE EASY ROAD**

SPELL

QUICK-PLAY

When a spell or trap card that you use requires a specific monster, monster type, monster element or monster strength to be activated, you may use a different monster instead.


	4. Rematch from Hell

Chapter 4

A day like any other at duel academy. Most of the school were still talking about how Michael had defeated both Rory and Richard, the school's two saviours from the previous year. The obvious next duellist to fight Michael would be Damien, the school's top duellist, though word was beginning to seep about Rory challenging Michael with his own deck.

In the morning of this day, whilst the sun was still rising over the vast ocean, seven boys were gathered in Damien's vault coliseum, running over the plan for that day one final time.

Amongst the three boys were Rory, Richard, Damien, and four third-year boys who were Damien's top cronies. Each of the boys had been given a codename for the operation. The coup that they were planning would have to be swift, and decisive if they were to over-run all three of the morning's lectures simultaneously.

"Okay, Kaiba, your deck is ready for the duel?" Damien asked, prompting the use of Codenames for recognition.

"Perfect, Marik."

"Excellent. As soon as we make the prompt, get to the academy chancellor's office immediately. Meanwhile, Yugi, you will get to the first-year class and capture Bakura."

"Roger." Richard saluted.

"Finally, Weevil, Raptor, you will go with Yugi and barricade the First and second year classrooms. Dartz, Pegasus, you will come and assist me in distracting Crowler from our lesson, and then sealing that classroom so that we can safely take out Sartyr and Banner. Dartz, you take Banner, Pegasus, Sartyr. I will be dealing with Chancellor Shepherd and securing the intercom and whiteboard command centre. From there, we shall broadcast the duel. Yugi, Kaiba and Bakura should arrive at the same time, and the duel shall take place on the balcony. The Coliseum technology is now mobilised, and shall be in the room with me when I arrive. Everyone understand?"

The other six boys nodded all at once, and slapped their duel disks on to their arms. They returned to their dorm rooms, and began to prepare for the long trap that they had set for Michael.

Meanwhile, a boy was standing in the wilderness. Around him there was only dust and stone, covered in a thick mist. He could smell smoke, and the distant crackling of flames came from a nearby village, which had fallen days before, though the fire continued to burn.

A golden plate was attached to his arm, with three flat panels on it. He lifted it, awaiting the oncoming storm. The plate had come from a village elder, who had received it down his line from the great pharaohs of Egypt, whom used it for their shadow games. His father had wanted him to have it, but only as a souvenir. He had never imagined that one day he would have to use it, and fight the risen demon.

Mikrael turned, just in time to see the figure through the mist laughing, his silver hair sticking directly in to the sky. It was him. The one who Mikrael had had to travel all this way to fight, but it was too late.

"Boy? You defy my power? I have laid Greece to waste, and left your country with nothing. Soon your world shall lie in ruin. I have travelled across time and shadow to find victory, and finally you shall fail, all of you!"

"Summon Zeus!" Mikrael yelled, as a carving appeared on one of the plates of his arm plate.

A large man appeared, holding a blade above his head and breathing in power from the dust and Earth.

"Summon Hades!" He yelled again, as another man joined the first, this one robed in shadow, the mist thickening as he appeared.

"Summon Neptune!" Mikrael yelled a third time, as a final, blue man appeared, a trident in his hand and waves seeping around him.

"You think that your gods can fell me?" The man muttered, cocking back his silver-haired head to laugh in his deep, sinister voice. "Summon Dreadroute!"

A dark halo of gloom shifted above them, as lightning crashed down, and a great beast floated through the mist, letting out a horrific shriek.

Michael snapped from bed, his dreams broken by a crack of sun entering the window. He did not want to be reminded of his past, even though it was centuries ago. Of how his Greek gods had fallen one by one, leaving only himself and Zeus left fighting, until he eventually sealed the monster, though the man who had summoned it had escaped back in to time and space.

Michael looked at his sealed golden tin, deep beneath his work in his draws. He lifted it, placed his hand on top, and energy surged through him, lifting the lid of the tin, to reveal three game cards, each showing a mighty god-like man on it, the same three he had just dreamed of.

"Zeus, Hades, Neptune. Sleep well." Michael laughed, placing them back in the tin, and sealing it once more at the bottom of his drawer. He stood up, walked to his chest of drawers, and prepared for class.

By Eleven O'clock that day, the mass of Obelisks throughout the school were tense, awaiting the oncoming action. The teachers were completely unknowing, unprepared for the upcoming coup.

Professor Sartyr sat at his desk, "teaching". In front of him, each of his second year students had a bowl of curry.

"Now then." He began "To show that you must often struggle to get the right card in duel monsters, I have given you each a bowl of boiling spicy curry. At the bottom of each bowl is a card, and to reach it, you must eat the flaming curry!"

"What is this, Survivor?" A Slifer student whined from the front row.

"You will have to be a survivor to eat this curry!" Sartyr laughed, ignoring the thinly veiled insult.

Suddenly, a knock came from the door, and a third year student stepped in, wearing Obelisk uniform. Rory and Richard recognised him as one of the boys from the meeting, the one codenamed Pegasus. They now knew that the coup was underway.

"Professor Crowler wants to see you." Muttered the boy to Sartyr, who began to approach him, but even as he did so, two more boys burst in to the room and grabbed Sartyr, tossing him over their shoulders, and rendering him unconscious. The third stowed him in a cupboard, and before any of the students had barely had time to turn from the curry, Rory and Richard were in mid-air, leaping to the door.

They brushed through simultaneously, and the door slammed behind them. Both of them fled in opposite directions, moving rapidly. Richard pelted down the corridor to the first-year classroom, which Michael was just exiting and glaring at an Obelisk in the reverse direction.

Without stopping, Richard slammed an arm around Michael's waist, pulling him on to his shoulder, and receiving support from the Obelisk who had been codenamed Dartz.

Together, they continued down the corridor, and arrived at the chancellor's office, just in time to see Rory entering through the door. Inside, Damien was in epic discussion with the Chancellor, who had obviously agreed to the duel. The pair was laughing, but stopped when the others arrived, turning to them.

"You're here!" Damien chuckled. "Let the games begin!"

As he spoke the final word, he flicked a switch, and a whiteboard on the wall lit up with an image of a duel arena like the one in Damien's room. Rory assumed that all of the school's whiteboards were showing this image.

He paced to the arena, which was outside on the balcony. By the time he arrived, Michael was standing, and now fully aware of his surroundings. He stepped on to the arena opposite from Rory, and lifted his arm, to show a duel disk that was already active.

"So then." Michael hummed "You have decided to challenge me at last. Now you shall fall before the whole school."

"Oh, really? Then let's duel!"

"Fine." Michael began "I summon Mechanical chaser in attack position!"

As Michael spoke, an android with green armour and many arms leapt out, swivelling tools in each direction. (1850/800)

"I end my turn with a face-down. What do you do then?"

"I summon my vorse raider in attack position! Then I equip him with axe of despair!"

In front of Rory, a large muscular beast appeared, swinging its light axe in front of it. (1900/1200). Then, in its hand, a larger, brown wooden axe appeared, an eerie mist seeping from it. (2900/1200)

"Now attack!" Rory yelled, as the creature jumped forwards, slamming its axe down on the mechanised soldier. The Machine lifted its tools to hold off the blow, but the vorse raider rebounded and struck the creature in half the second time.

Michael groaned irritably as his life points fell to 2950, but he smirked. "I activate my face down card, damage condenser! Since you just did 1050 damage to my life points, I can summon a monster with less than 1050 points. So I summon my heavy mech support platform."

A small silver machine appeared next to Michael, and Rory raised an eyebrow at the tiny creature. (500/500).

"My turn!" Michael laughed "I activate my machine duplication to place two more support platforms on the field."

Two more of the silver robots appeared next to the first.

"Now I tribute the two I just played to summon perfect machine king in attack mode. And I equip the first to him."

Rory stepped back in amazement as the giant white monster appeared, glowing in the morning sun. The support platform slammed on to its back, giving it a shock and then it glowed with even more power. (3700/1500).

"Now my mechanised master, I shall invoke the power of this coliseum and combine with you!"

"What?" Damien, Rory, Richard and the chancellor all screamed in unison.

"I know of these ancient technology coliseums, and their power to combine humans and spirits. So I morph together with perfect machine king!"

The arena shook as Michael and the machine king were sucked together, and a bright light burst out, then faded to reveal Michael, who now had white armour like that of his monster, and red stripes down his sides. The Metal platform flew back on to him, giving him to large plates along his sides.

"And now, as I have combined with my monster, I can pay life points to increase its attack! So I pay 1000 life points to give my monster a grand total of 4700 attack points!" (4700/1500).

The whole of the academy watching gasped, and Damien had a true look of fear and surprise on his face.

"How can he know the secrets of my arena!" he thought "My force will be easily stopped by him if he knows."

Rory stepped back quickly, just as Michael flew skywards, and charged an energy ball in his hands, before flying down through mid-air, and launching the energy at Rory. It engulfed him, and he let out a whimper, as the light faded, leaving him at 2200 life points with no monsters.

From the other side of the field, Michael's armour glowed, and the life point total on it shot down one-thousand to 1950. He placed one card on his disk, newly fused to his armour, and gestured to his enemy.

"My draw!" Rory shouted, lifting a card. "I play graceful charity, draw these three cards, and discard one other, as well as my shining abyss!"

Michael gasped, and a great fog covered the field, as Rory's vorse raider and shining abyss appeared as ghosts, fading in to dust, and causing a mighty trembling throughout the castle.

"I summon my almighty chaos emperor dragon – envoy of the end!" Rory bellowed, as the ground on the balcony collapsed slightly, to reveal a giant blue dragon rising upwards. "Now I combine with him!"

The dragon floated upwards towards its master, and the pair merged, the blinding light fading to create a new warrior. Rory was now hovering in mid-air, with shimmering blue armour, and a helmet in the shape of a dragon's head. His hands had been replaced with mighty talons, and his eyes were bright red. (3000/2500).

"I boost my dragon by 1701 points exactly!" Rory laughed, as his life points fell to 499. "Now I attack your monster!" (4701/2500).

"No, I activate my negate attack!" Michael sniggered, raising his trap. "It stops your attack!"

"Fine. I set two cards and end my turn." Rory snorted, placing a pair of cards on his arm shield duel disk.

"Good." Michael smiled. "I start my turn with spawn of Ra! This very special spell card allows me to search my deck for any monster in my deck, hand or fusion deck for any monster with the same level as my perfect machine king, and play it on the field. All I have to do is remove the three monsters in my graveyard from the game. So I call forth my VWXYZ Dragon Catapult cannon!"

In front of Rory appeared a massive android with blue armour, and two enormous yellow claws. From between its legs protruded a red dragon's head, and the dragons wings burst from its back. It had hundreds of cannons on its chest, and the head of a tiger. (3000/2800).

"This also gives my machine king the boost it needs to finish off your dragon and your life points!" Michael smiled. (5200/1500).

"Stop!" Rory interrupted. "I chain my skill drain, and then chain my gift of the mystical elf to that!"

Michael gasped, as Rory's life points rose to 1399 and fell down to 399 again. Michael looked down, seeing his attack total drop rapidly. (2700/1500).

The armour on both Rory and Michael rattled, and both were sent flying backwards, leaving their monsters in front of them.

"I end my turn by setting a monster in defence!" Michael growled.

"Good." Rory laughed "I start by attacking your machine king and destroying it!"

The dragon let out a burst of flame, blasting the weakened machine king to pieces. Michael grunted as his life fell to 1650.

"Now I set one card face-down and end my turn."

"Finally." Michael muttered. "I flip my monster, magician of faith; allowing me to bring back my spell card, spawn of ra. Now I use it to summon my ancient gear gadjiltron dragon by removing from play my perfect machine king."

"Stop! I activate my trap, threatening roar!" Rory yelled, as a roar echoed throughout the academy. "That stops you from attacking this turn. Just give up. You can't beat me!"

"Oh really? Why's that?"

"Come on! I'm invincible! I was a key player in the fall of Dark Dreadroute. If it wasn't for me, he would have destroyed the world!"

"You cannot make that claim! You were dying in the hospital, and I awoke you from your coma with my gear dragon, so that you could fight Dreadroute. I was the one responsible for his defeat this time, and more importantly I was the one who sealed him originally!"

"What?" Everyone gasped.

"That's correct! Rory Lionheart, **I AM THE HAILED ONE**!"

Rory was stunned with amazement, and stared blankly at his opponent.

"Now I shall call upon my powers to make this little duel in to an almighty shadow game! And the dragon that once saved your life shall now rip you to shreds!"

**NEW CARDS FROM THESE DUELS**

**SPAWN OF RA**

SPELL

NORMAL

Select one monster on your field. Search your hand, deck or fusion deck for a monster with the same number of stars as that monster, and remove from play monsters in your graveyard whose stars total that cards level. Special summon the selected monster from your deck in face-up attack position on your side of the field.

**DUELLING COLISEUM**

Allows players to combine with their monsters. The player may pay life points to increase the monsters attack by the same amount, or pay half their life points to give the monster another attack, so long as it does not attack directly. This coliseums effect counts as the effect of each individual monster on the field, though they retain their original effects.

**MID-DUEL STATUS**

Rory Lionheart 399 LP

Chaos emperor dragon - envoy of the end

(3000/2500)

Michael Theseus 1650 LP

VWXYZ Dragon Catapult Cannon

(3000/2800)

Magician of Faith

(300/400)

Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon

(3000/2000)


	5. All Hail Michael

Chapter 5

_LAST TIME… _

_When testing new students in their entrance exams, Rory duelled Michael, who tricked Rory and overcame him easily. However, Rory trained with Damien so that he could defeat him, whilst Michael duelled every student in Obelisk, beating even Richard. So Damien, Rory and Richard concocted a plan to trick Michael in to a rematch duel with Rory, who quickly become overcame by Michael's machines, especially upon the arrival of VWXYZ dragon catapult cannon and Ancient gear gadjiltron dragon. Things became even worse though when Michael revealed that he is the hailed one who destroyed dreadroute. Can Rory hold his own against the fabled hailed one?_

Rory was still standing motionless, bemused by Michael's revelation. The hailed one himself shook with anger, before focussing himself.

"Time to bring about your downfall then." He snorted. "I tribute my magician of faith to summon Jinzo and equip him with Amplifier, so that he negates the effect of all your trap cards, like that skill drain of yours! However, since your threatening roar was activated before he was summoned, I still can't attack this turn."

As Michael sniggered this, his magician vanished and was replaced by a large, green and black armoured android, with a bright pink head which had been crushed out of shape. (2400/1500). It shot out a green energy ball at Rory's trap as Michael prompted it, shattering the card.

"Now that my monsters have been freed up, I fuse with my Gear dragon!"

Michael floated forwards, the dragon wrapping itself around him like skin. As he emerged from the produced glow, he had a large metal helmet like the dragon's head, and was covered from head to toe in steel armour, the musty colour of the ancient gears. From cracks in the armour stuck large iron gears and cogs, turning away as Michael's eyes glowed red from beneath the helmet.

"I set two cards facedown, and now I will pay life points to increase my monster's strength!" Michael yelled, as his life points dropped to 50. (4600/2000).

"My turn." Rory muttered, panicking subtly. "I start by playing a spell card, polymerization! This card allows me to fuse the dragon on my field with the Gaia the fierce knight in my hand, which creates the Chaos emperor knight!"

The large, silver armoured knight dropped from the sky, its shimmering armour coating its blue skin underneath fully. The enormous blade in its hands radiated with light, as it sucked in energy from the graveyard. (3300/2000)

"And since there are 6 cards removed from play, and eleven in our graves, my emperor knight gains 2900 attack points!" Rory yelled, as the knight's attack total rose to 6200.

"Stop there!" Michael grunted, "I chain taunt. This means that this turn, only my VWXYZ dragon catapult cannon can be targeted. Then I activate my other trap, spirit barrier, meaning that all damage is reduced to zero if I still have a monster."

"Fine. I attack your VWXYZ Dragon catapult cannon!" Rory yelled, "And destroy it!"

Rory leapt in to the air, slamming in to his chaos emperor knight as he combined with it. After the change, however, there was barely any difference, and the only change was that Rory was now inside the armour. As he met it, his life points fell to 100. (6499/2000).

"Shimmer sword smash!" Rory yelled as he flew up in to the sky, and soared downwards, energy glowing around him as he fell. He pulled out his sword and held it above his head, stopping a metre from the Catapult cannon and bringing the sword down at the same time. The speed of the attack blew the monster in to a million pieces, sending them all flying.

"Now, then." Rory chuckled mischievously. "I call upon the arena's other special power. By paying half my life points, I can attack another one of your monsters!"

Michael and Damien both gasped. Michael gasped because of the sudden comeback, and Damien because of the shock that Rory also knew how to control his arena.

Rory's life fell to 50, like Michael's, and he burst forwards again, hitting Jinzo this time. Now, only he and Michael were left on the field, and both were scowling at each other, hovering the length of the arena apart.

"So then, Michael." Rory laughed. "We each have 50 life points and ourselves. The winner of this battle will be the winner of the match."

"And since this is now a shadow game, the winner will leave with his soul!" Michael exclaimed, reminding Rory of the horrific truth. "And there is no turning back now! Fastest fingers first!"

"I set one more card and end my turn." Rory smiled. "So it's all down to your move now."

Michael drew a card, and held out his empty hand. An eerie mist appeared around the duellists, covering them from head to toe in shadow, so that the others could no longer detect them. The black smog grew to an enormous size, until it had made an enormous orb surrounding the duel arena, and blocking the two contestants from everyone else.

"I thought that it would be appropriate to end this duel in the shadow realm." Michael laughed.

Meanwhile, on a small island a few hundred metres off the coast of Duel academy, a man sat, watching the duel. The dank, dirty cave had barely any light, and the rich, high society man found it aggravating.

"So then," He began, muttering to the man behind him. "You are sure that Supotco can eliminate these two warriors? My master will be very unpleased if he fails."

"I am certain of it, Lord Cari-"

"Do not use my true name!" The man viewing snapped, not taking his eyes away from the screen. "There are probably spies here. I cannot sacrifice my cover."

"Fine then. Supotco shall have no problem however, as he has the world's greatest creatures."

"Maybe. But anyway, there are plenty more fish in the sea, aren't there?" the man grinned. "Send in your observer to see their tactics more closely, Lieutenant!"

"Yes, master." Lieutenant muttered, as an old, bearded man listened from a corner of the room. The man stepped outside, unnoticed by the agents around him.

"All shall be ready soon, Master." Thought the unnamed man "And when you rise, my glory shall be all-known."

He smiled, his master's promise to him ringing in his head. "Bring about the end of the hailed one and his allies, and you shall have what was taken from you, and so much more. Fail me and you shall rot in the shadow realm."

The final words made him shiver. He did not wish to rot in darkness forever. And he did not think that it was a bluff. The one time that he had met his master, he had known that. From the look in those maniacal eyes, and the shimmer of evil running through his silver streaked hair, he knew that the man was pure evil.

Emptying his mind of these thoughts, he returned his gaze to the screen, where the two armour-clad warriors were preparing for their final bout.

Rory absorbed his surroundings; the dark purple haze that he had been informed was the shadow realm itself.

"So then, Michael, or should I call you hailed one?" Rory growled "What is your real name?"

"I was born with the name Mikrael Theseus, in Greece." Michael muttered. "I was not born with any powers whatsoever. I earned them by fighting dark Dreadroute and his master."

"His master? I thought that Dreadroute worked for himself."

"No. He was a duel monster spirit like all others, created by a dark warrior of pure evil. That man walked through time and space itself, everything behind him burning in flame. One day, a group of three men came to me. Each of them bore the power of one of the gods of Greece, Zeus, Hades and Neptune. They entrusted them to me to fight the man, and I challenged him. But his servant transformed in to something darker, more powerful…"

"Dreadroute."

"Indeed. I defeated the creature with only Zeus left fighting, but the demon who summoned him fled through the eras. Now he is set to return to this time, and it is my duty to stop him!"

"That's why you're here?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll help you."

"Maybe. We'll see. I shall lift the shadows around us."

As he waved his hand, the dark presence lifted, and the crowd could once more see them. Both were still hovering motionlessly, energy crackling across their armour.

"I believe that it was your move." Rory smirked

"Then I attack you!" Michael screamed, bursting forwards, "And chain limiter removal!"

Michael surged with power, His armour barely clinging to him. He shot upwards, and rocketed down at Rory, his body separating as he entered a hypersonic speed. Just when he was around ten metres away, Rory flipped his card.

"I activate my final attack orders!" He yelled, as Michael crashed in to him, the speed he was moving at creating a blinding light that stunned all of the students watching.

The light cleared, and all eyes turned back to the duel, watching to see if Rory had indeed lost. Michael's fist was stuck out violently, ready to crush Rory, but Rory was not destroyed. He had his own hand out, clutching on to Michael's and holding it at bay.

"But I should have destroyed you!" Michael roared in astonishment

"Not today." Rory panted, his energy drained. "I activated my final attack orders, which turns all monsters in to attack position, and makes us destroy all but three cards in our deck, which we can place in any order we choose."

"That changes nothing!"

"No, that changes everything!" Rory grinned "the monsters that were destroyed are still honoured by boosting me further. They shall be avenged by my blade!"

Michael's eyes widened. He looked down at his attack points, 9200, and then at Rory's which were still rising. Eventually, they stopped, clicking in to place at a grand total of 13200 points.

"No! My plan was perfect! How did I fail?" Michael stuttered, as Rory thrust his fist back

"You fought me!" he yelled, slamming his sword down hard across the length of Michael's body. Light exploded from inside, and a great rattling burst of flame emerged, disintegrating everything in its path. As the fireball dimmed, Rory pulled back his shield, the attack over. He floated down to the balcony, and the armour faded, leaving him to collapse on the floor.

"You did it!" Damien smiled "You beat Michael! You just beat the hailed one!"

"Where did he go?" Richard asked, looking at the blank space of air where Michael had been.

"Oh, I'm sure he'll turn up." Rory grinned, his bruised face giving a minute smile.

"Better get you to the hospital wing." Damien laughed. "No duelling for a couple of weeks."

"What? No duelling? No, Damien, I'm fine!" Rory grinned, trying to support his own weight, before collapsing again.

He, Richard and Rory laughed. A little way off, at the foot of the academy docks, a small boat arrived, carrying with it an old, bearded man, with terrible news. He set off up the slope to warn the chancellor, but the strike was set to begin momentarily.

The unknown man on the island slipped on his coat and stepped on to his private jet, leaving the island before Supotco returned, so that he could watch from a distance. His master would soon return to ravage the world again.


	6. Grim Message

Chapter 6

Crowler sat in his office, with three boys in front of him; the masterminds behind the coup. Each of them was writing up a long, pointless strategy to defeat pro league duellist Seto Kaiba, analysing his flaws, his strengths, and what the strategy would depend on.

They had been scrawling in silence for an hour in the near pitch black, the room lit only by a dim lamp in the corner of it. Though the window was open, the moonlight could not even flicker past the window, as the academy was positioned so that Crowler's office faced away from the moon at this time.

"Have you slackers learnt your lessons yet?" Crowler hissed "I have a PhD in duelling; you can't kidnap me!"

"We weren't trying to kidnap you!" Damien repeated for the seventh time that evening "We were just trying to teach that slacker Michael a lesson!"

"Are you trying to mimic me?" Crowler yelled in anger

"No we'd need a girl for that." Damien muttered under his breath, though Crowler seemed to notice anyway.

"How dare you? You'll be in detention for the rest of the year if you insult my face again, and say it looks girly!"

"But we were talking about the hair." Damien muttered, confused by Crowler's ignorance.

"No, no! Don't pretend. I've heard you kids, making fun of me for having a girly face."

Damien decided that he should quit while he was ahead, and went back to the work. Just as he was a line further in, however, there was a low, thudding knock from the door, leading on to the otherwise silent corridor.

"Who could that be?" Crowler mumbled "Calling at this hour. It's rude to be this late!"

As he talked, the dim light flickered, and wind rushed in through the window, as if they were in a horror movie. Again, the dull tap sounded, and a shiver ran through Crowler's spine, as he stepped towards the door slowly.

He stepped on a loose plank, and a sharp creak echoed throughout the room, causing Crowler to squeal and leap in to the air.

"You! You want to make fun of me! You open it!" Crowler snapped at Damien, who smirked, wanting his own back at the teacher for throwing them all in detention, even though the Chancellor had been understanding.

"But, sir, what's the problem? You're already nearly at the door, why aren't you opening it? Are you scared? If you're scared, then how can I manage to cross the massive room unscathed? I mean, I don't even have a PhD!"

"Just do it!" Crowler yelled, as the knock continued, impatiently

"Ok." Damien smiled as he walked across the room, and jumped hard on the squeaky plank, causing Crowler to fly on to his desk. Then, he proceeded to the door, and opened it without even a flicker of cowardice.

"Hello. Who's there?" Damien laughed, unable to see anything in the murky corridor.

"Maybe Banner was right about duel spirits!" Crowler muttered, and then let out a large scream as a portrait of Banner that had been in his desk floated out in front of him.

"You killed me!" came Banner's voice, causing Crowler to shrink in fear.

"No! No! You aren't dead!"

The portrait dropped, and Richard and Rory burst in to a fit of uncontrollable laughter, falling on their backs and clutching their sides. Crowler scowled, and turned back to the door.

"I am the messenger." Came a rasping, hollow voice in response to Damien's question. "I have come to warn you. You are all in grave danger."

The thought was obviously too much for Crowler, who put his hands over his head, and ducked under his desk.

"By the end of tonight, a war shall begin, for your souls." The messenger continued. "The enemy is marching, and you must be ready. The syndicate is coming."

"Why? Who are the Syndicate?" Rory asked, standing up and walking over to stand beside Damien.

"A group of men who seek the ultimate power of darkness. They seek to summon a dark spirit, which will lay waste to civilisation as we know it."

"Sounds just like freshmen year, doesn't it Richard?" Rory smirked to his friend, who was joining the others.

"Who leads this Syndicate?" Richard queried

"A man named Supotco. While spying, I never saw him."

"But who are you?"

"I am the messenger?"

"The messenger of what?"

"The messenger of doom, should the Syndicate succeed."

"Show yourself!"

The man walked out of the shadows, shorter than they imagined from the dark voice. He was wearing old-fashioned clothes, and had long grey hair, accompanied by a similar beard. On his arm was a duel disk.

"Hey, Gandalf's started duelling!" Richard smiled, to a look of astonishment from the others in the room.

"I shall Duel your Professor." The messenger rasped, ignoring Richard's comment.

"No." Crowler said, pulling his arms further over his head.

"Of course!" Damien and Rory yelled, lifting Crowler to his feet and dragging him to the messenger. "He has a PhD, and a legendary monster! There's no way you can beat him!"

Crowler pulled his arms from his head, now that he knew he had been outsmarted. "Fine."

"We duel with 4000 points." The messenger muttered, shuffling his deck. "And by the time this match is over, you shall realise the danger that you are in. As my deck moves as quickly and dangerously as the syndicate."

"Please." Crowler laughed, shaking off his fear. "You shall never get close to winning."

"Fine then." The messenger snorted. "I summon my Dark Elf in attack position, and lay 1 card face down."

A large elf with jet black robes appeared, its eyes glowing red as it cackled. (2000/800).

Rory, Richard and Damien gasped, and Crowler sighed. "It's time you learnt a lesson. I start by setting a monster in defence, and then I play ancient gear castle."

A blank card appeared in front of Crowler, and then a large castle with gears and mechanisms bursting from it rose from the ground behind him. One of the cogs began to turn.

"Stop there!" the messenger yelled, flipping his face-down card. "I activate my trap, destiny board!"

A large letter 'F' appeared behind the old man, and lit the room with its eerie glow.

"Fine then." Crowler laughed. "I end my turn."

The message glowed, and its messenger laughed.

"Each time you end your turn while my destiny board is on the field, I can add a new part of my message. And when the message finishes, so do you! And if you can't solve my message before the end, then you will stand no chance against the syndicate."

The messenger pulled a card from his deck, placing it on the field next to his first letter. A bright letter 'I' appeared, and made the message 'FI'.

"Professor, I take it you know the message?" Damien queried.

"No, why should I?"

"It's a famous card. Bakura used it against Yugi Muto during the battle city tournament. The word is-"

"No!" Crowler snapped. "I want to figure it out myself! Now what could it be, fish, fire, fiddle."

"My move." The messenger interrupted, drawing a card. "I tribute my Dark elf to summon the chaos command magician."

A large, green armoured magician appeared, lifting a great sword. (2400/1900). Another gear turned on the castle.

"Now he strikes your face-down monster, cyber jar!"

Crowler gasped, and sure enough, when the magician lowered its sword, a small metal ship appeared.

"And my monster is unaffected by your jar's blitz, so I get to keep him."

The messenger gestured to Crowler, who drew a card, still trying to solve the message in front of him.

"I tribute my gear castle to summon my Ancient gear golem!" Crowler laughed, about to play his monster when his castle burst in to flames.

"I play my mystical space typhoon. So your castle erupts before you can summon that behemoth of yours."

Crowler gasped, and played a different monster instead. "I set this card in defence, and one card face-down."

"Have you forgotten?" the messenger laughed as he drew out a card from his deck. "I play spirit message N!"

"N!" Crowler gasped as the message lit up with a nasty glow, making the word 'FIN' "Hmm, Finland, Find, Fins."

"How does he do that?" Rory whispered in amazement.

"My draw." The messenger grinned. "I discard a card from my hand to summon the tricky. Then I tribute him for a second command magician."

A large jester appeared, with question marks covering him, but was then replaced by a second green armoured Magi. (2400/1900).

"Finally, I tribute them both to special summon the mighty Sorcerer of Dark Magic."

The two magicians vanished, and were replaced by a tall man wearing purple robes over his entire body. He lifted a glowing staff, and a light burst from it. (3200/2800).

"Now he can attack your face-down battle footballer, destroy it, and negate the sakuretsu armour you have set for him with his effect."

Crowler frowned, turning the trap over as the man spoke, and placing it in his graveyard. His armoured android lifted, shattering just as the man had predicted.

"You're cheating!" Crowler groaned. "You cannot know my strategies!"

"The Syndicate will, too. They are ingenious, and will have everything prepared for you. I end my turn."

Crowler drew a card, setting it face-down, and lifting a spell card. "I activate hammer shot. It destroys your monster!"

The messenger looked completely unaffected as his monster vanished. Crowler ignored this, setting a monster in defence.

"My destiny board activates." The messenger muttered "And I add spirit message A to the mix."

The message now shone, reading 'FINA' and awaiting the arrival of its final letter eagerly.

"I set one monster in defence, and leave it to you." The messenger grinned. "But should you end your turn, the game will end."

"No it won't!" Crowler yelled "Because I've figured out your word. The message is Final!"

Damien sighed. "About time!"

"And I play my face-down, dust tornado!" the professor continued. "It destroys your message board, and all of the other messages with it!"

The messenger frowned, as his message vanished, and darkness once more consumed the room.

"Now I tribute my face-down card, the Trojan horse, allowing me to summon my ancient gear golem with only one tribute!"

"Oh dear." Muttered the messenger.

"Next, I attack your defence. And my Golem will deal the difference to your life points. Without your message, you've lost, messenger."

"Wrong. You may think that you have won against the syndicate, but they will secretly have been planning something else entirely. I activate the flip effect of my monster, morphing jar."

Both duellists discarded their hands as the messenger lost 2400 life points. They each drew five new cards, and Crowler laughed.

"I don't see how you have a back-up strategy. You have no cards on the field to help you!"

"Then I activate the effect of all five of the cards I just drew!"

"What?" Crowler muttered, trying to understand.

"I activate the effect of Exodia the forbidden one!"

The three boys and Crowler went silent as they watched a nearly unseen sight. The Messenger turned around all five of his cards one-by-one, and two legs appeared, followed by two arms, and finally a head, creating the ultimate monster, who gathered energy in his hands, and blasted it at Crowler, lowering his life points to zero instantly as the messenger yelled out the words that only Yugi Muto had had the pleasure of saying before.

"Exodia, Obliterate!"

A dark light concealed crowler, and the holograms faded, leaving Crowler on his knees panting. The messenger had disappeared.

"Boys. That man showed me! The syndicate is a real threat! You need to get back to your dorm immediately."

The three friends fled, and ran out across the grass, amazed by the sight that they had just seen. Chatting about it gleefully, they were completely unaware of the binoculars focussed on them. The man holding them dropped silently to the ground from a tree, and began to press closer, lifting an intercom.

"This is reconnaissance, reporting targets one, two and three in motion. Over."

"Roger. Move in for the kill. Over."

Reconnaissance grinned, lifting his duelling deck in to his duel disk, and sprinting soundlessly towards the three unsuspecting students. The Syndicate had arrived.


	7. Syndicate Spy

Chapter 7

"I play Mystic Box!" came a sinister voice from behind the three boys, who spun, to see a man holding up the spell card he had mentioned. He had messy black hair, and was wearing a ninja's costume, with a sword at his side.

"This card traps Damien inside."

Rory and Richard looked back at their friend to hear him yelp as a green and black box covered in question marks appeared around him.

"If you want him back, you'll have to duel for him!" the man smiled "And you'll wager your souls!"

"I'm sorry. Who are you?" Rory asked, the quick chain of events confusing him. "You don't just appear, put someone in a card and then request a duel!"

"Of course. I am Reconnaissance. I work for the Syndicate, who you have undoubtedly heard of. I am the leader of covert spying operations, and my duty is to assimilate knowledge of you decks."

"I have no idea what he just said." Rory muttered to his friend.

"He's a spy who works for the syndicate. He wants info on our decks."

"Good enough for me." Rory smirked, cracking his duel disk in to action.

"No!" Reconnaissance laughed. "I have seen you duel. I wish to duel him."

His finger stopped on Richard, who looked around nervously.

"What? Me? No way. I had enough of this last year. I mean, I just got a-" he paused "New card. I don't want to lose my soul."

"Oh, then how about we see how the swords do with Damien then." The spy sniggered, gesturing as hundreds of swords slowly entered the box, and Damien let out a horrific scream.

"Ok, Ok!" Richard shouted "I'll duel."

"I knew you would." Reconnaissance murmured, smiling slightly "I'll go first."

The pair lifted duel disks, though the spy's looked different. He was wearing a long silver gauntlet with duel disk panels along it, though it had a large cannon part in the end, like a machine gun.

"What's that?" Richard queried in fear, as both player's life shot to 4000.

"Oh, you'll see as the game goes on." The villainous syndicate member muttered, his teeth shining white in the moonlight.

"I start by setting one card face down, and then I set a monster in defence position. That will do."

Richard looked at his cards. "Whoa!" He shouted aloud, without realising. But he had good reason. In his hand he had two rock bombardments, Battle ox, astral barrier, spirit barrier and sabre beetle. If his plan worked, this game would be a breeze. However, he could not risk playing the cards immediately, as his outburst would give his enemy an idea of what he was planning.

"I summon battle ox in attack position." He said, trying to mask his outburst. "And attack your face-down monster."

The brown, armoured ox flew forwards, swinging its axe from side to side as it prepared to dive on the face-down card. (1700/1000).

"Wrong move." The ninja-clothed man sniggered. "My monster was cyber jar. So every monster on the field is destroyed, and we each draw five new cards."

Richard frowned, but shrugged it off, drawing five new cards, and gaping at these cards, as they too were powerful.

"I summon destroyer golem in attack position, and set two monster cards face-down." He smiled, trying not to, but failing.

"I set a single monster." Reconnaissance muttered, but Richard couldn't help seeing him smile, as two blank cards, and a large, brown golem appeared (1500/1000).

"I end my turn without attacking." Richard frowned, discarding once, disturbed by his opponent's pleasure, despite having such a bad field.

"Good." The villain laughed. "I activate my facedown card, the eye of truth. It allows me to see every card in your hand, so I can see why you're so happy."

The card flipped. It had a large glowing eye on it, and the spy walked over and snatched Richard's hand, looking at each card, before returning to his field.

"Those cards are very good. We can't be having that! I activate card destruction!" he yelled, throwing every card in his hand in to the graveyard slot. "Now we lose every card in our hands, and draw new cards equal to the discarded number."

Richard growled, placing his best cards in his graveyard. He reached to his deck, and drew six new cards, which he wasn't quite as impressed with. His opponent drew 8 more, and grinned at them.

"I tribute my face-down whirlwind prodigy, which counts as two tributes for a wind monster, to summon my storm shooter."

The face-down card disappeared, and was quickly replaced by a large feathered man, with brightly coloured wings. (2300/500).

"Now I play D.D. designator! I get to think of any card, and if you have it in your hand, it is removed from play. So, since I can see your hand with eye of truth, I remove from play your judge man! And I have another, so I name your golem sentry."

Richard scowled as a large grey statue and a tall, armoured man with a club appeared in front of him, and then disappeared in to thin air. He placed the cards in his pocket, and glared at his opponent.

"Now, my storm shooter activates its effect. I select one card on the field, in the same column as him, and he sends it back to your hand, where I can see it. So I choose your first face-down monster!"

The feathered man flapped its wings hard, lifting in to the air, and blasting the card in to Richard's hand.

"Ah, guardian statue. Now that would have been a problem."

"This is unfair!" Rory yelled. "Richard doesn't have a chance if you can see all the cards in his hand!"

"Silence!" The man roared, Rory's lips fastening together. "Next I play senet switch and play a face-down card. And my switch card lets my monster move one space per turn. So he moves in line with your destroyer golem, one space from your other hidden monster, and attacks your golem."

The winged creature flew in to the air, and dive-bombed the rock warrior, who exploded upon impact. The bird continued to smash in to Richard, who howled, suddenly remembering the pain of shadow games. However, this time, there was an added pain. Reconnaissance had lifted the cannon shape on his arm, and was draining an essence from Richard. His soul. Richard glared with pure hatred at the man as his life points fell to 3200.

"That ends my move." The evil spy sniggered "But you gain 1000 life points because of my eye of truth card, as you have a spell in your hand."

Richard drew a card, relieved to gain back 100 points, placing him at 4200. He looked at his face-down card, which was now the only card that his opponent had not seen, and thus his only hope.

"I start by setting this monster-"

"Guardian statue." Reconnaissance laughed

"-way over there on that side of the field. Then I play shifting shadows, to switch my two face-down cards, so that my unknown monster is safe from your effect."

A blank card appeared, under which Richard's stone warrior (800/1400) sat. The two cards then flew in to the air, and swapped places, each moving to the opposite side of the field.

"Unfortunately, I have to pay 300 life points to use that card. Now I end my move."

Richard's life fell to 3900 again, and the Syndicate member's tool kicked in, sucking out more soul.

"Good, good." Reconnaissance smirked "I play my storm shooter's second effect, allowing him to move one space towards your monster, and then senet switch, to move him another space closer, so that he is only one away. I must know what that card is!"

The bird-man flew towards Richard's face-down card, and stopped not far off.

"Now I attack your face-down guardian statue."

The bird turned around, and let out a burst of wind, which vaporised the small stone statue.

"I end my turn."

Richard grinned, his strategy in full effect. He gained back another 1000 life points, sending him all the way to 4900.

"Now then." Richard smiled. "I set this card in defence on the other side of the field again."

"You mean your second guardian statue?"

"Indeed. Now I call upon the effect of my shifting shadows to switch the two cards again."

Reconnaissance opened his eyes wide as he realised his opponent's trick, and Richard lowered to 4600 points. His eyes stopped on the shifting shadows spell card, then his eye of truth, then the pot of greed in Richard's hand, that was being purposefully unused. He looked back and forth between the cards, and shuddered.

"Yes, that's right!" Richard grinned. "You can't win."

"Oh yes I can!" Reconnaissance yelled "I strike the mystery monster!"

The Bird flew back, preparing to dive-bomb again, when Richard's card flipped. The creature that appeared was made of rock, and looked like a human, but it had four arms, and a large sword. (0/?)

"You just activated the effect of my Stone titanus!" Richard grinned. "He has a total of 500 Defence points for each turn he was face-down, which was 5, giving him a grand total of 2500 defence points."

The winged creature bounced off the stone man, landing at Reconnaissance's feet.

"And his second effect means that by paying 500 life points, the defence of your monster, it is destroyed, and my monster's defence gets fired at your life points!"

The stone warrior Leapt in to the air, smashing the storm shooter in to dust, before spinning, and chopping its enemy with the sword. It landed in front of Richard again, and held its sword up in defence. (0/2500)

Reconnaissance groaned, collapsing and clutching his bleeding side. His arm device stuttered, and sucked life force from him away, stopping only when he arrived at 1300 life points.

Richard grinned, barely paying attention as he fell to 4100 life points.

"I set one monster face-down and end my turn!" Reconnaissance growled.

"Good." Richard giggled. "I play my pot of greed at last, and draw 2 cards."

Richard drew, nodding appreciating at his new cards. "I tribute my face-down Guardian statue, to summon a second sabre beetle, but not before flipping my monster, and returning your face-down card to your hand."

"Stop! No! That leaves me defenceless!"

"And now, it's time for my turn to guess! Your monster is morphing jar!"

"How did you know that?" Reconnaissance yelled in total fear.

"I'm magic." Chuckled Richard "Now attack him sabre beetle, finish this duel!"

Reconnaissance screamed as the beetle flew forwards, its shining horn digging in to him, knocking his life points to zero. (2400/600).

The man continued to scream even as the holograms faded, and the tool on his arm sucked in the rest of his soul. He stood up, but his eyes were completely blank.

"Fine. Open the box. It is too late anyway!" the man muttered, his voice cold, and devoid of emotion.

Richard ran over to the box, and reached to swing the door open. However, before he got there, the swords dug in, and there was an ear-splitting scream from inside.

The two boys pulled the door open immediately, to find that not Damien, but Reconnaissance was inside.

"Hey wait!" Rory muttered. "In the card game, the mystic box switches the monster put in the first box to the second box. So where is the other box?"

"I don't know." Richard rubbed his head. "But we should head back to the dorm quickly!"

Meanwhile, Michael was lying in the water, floating on his back. The fall from the academy after Rory's last attack had damaged him beyond all comprehension, but his monster spirits had protected him. The gadjiltron armour was still attached to him, blown apart to reveal blood underneath. He had no power to rise from the water and go back to shore, but he could feel an evil energy stirring as he lay there, motionless in the water.

His mind instantly flickered to a glimpse of a man through a dust cloud, silver hair barely visible. The face grinned, its features still indistinguishable. He could still hear the man laughing, and sensed him flinch in the darkness, waiting to return.

Michael lifted himself to the shore, the adrenalin from the foe's return pushing him on. When he arrived on the beach, he clambered up the cliff in to the forest, where he collapsed in to a pile of shrubbery, unable to go on.

And while this all happened, a large boat was sailing towards the island, carrying with it soldiers ready to take control. One of them stepped to the edge, his blonde hair shining in the moon for a second, before he took one last look at Reconnaissance's report, and leapt in to the water, grinning eagerly at the chance to start the battle.

**NEW MONSTERS FROM THIS DUEL**

**STONE TITANUS**

ATK/0 DEF?

LEVEL 4

EARTH

ROCK / EFFECT

In each player's end phase after this card is set, add 1 to the boulder count. When this card is attacked, its original DEF becomes the boulder count X 500. Also, by paying life points equal to the defence of the attacking monster, destroy it, and your opponent loses life points equal to the boulder count X 500.


End file.
